United Automobile Worker

Secretary Addes Says
IMMEDIATE TRAINING FOR WAR Production ESSENTIAL

The pressure brought by the UAW-CIO for action to convert auto plants to war production has finally borne fruit.

The elimination of Mr. Knudsen from a position where he could influence the rate of conversion, and the installation of Mr. Nelson in the place of power has started things moving in Washington. Mr. Nelson knows the necessity of doing a job quickly and he is not afraid of helpful ideas just because they come from labor men.

The decision to concentrate the auto division of Mr. Nelson's organization in Detroit is an obvious piece of common sense. The UAW-CIO will render every assistance to Mr. Kanzler and his associates, not only in plant conversion but in contract allocation, elimination of waste, and better use of materials and machinery already devoted to war production.

CONVERSION OF MAN-POWER

In the rush to change over the auto plants to a war basis the factor of man-power is frequently overlooked. Conversion is a difficult though necessary and practicable task where buildings and machinery are concerned. But conversion of auto workers into war workers also requires planning and facilities and time.

Training of auto workers for war production is an immediate need, both to increase the output of armaments and to decrease the tremendous evil of mass unemployment.

There are some training facilities now but ridiculously inadequate to the magnitude of the problem.

BUILD FIRE UNDER SCHOOL BOARDS

The education setup in the various auto centers is not the same and therefore we can only make general remarks on what is to be done. The main thing is to bring pressure on the proper authorities for immediate expansion on the largest possible scale of existing training facilities for war production.

If the federal vocational training bureau is in control in a community, that is the place to send your committee, write your letters and make your phone calls to get action on additional training opportunities.

If the state or county is the deciding body build your fire there.

In Detroit, where the greatest number of our members are laid off by the termination of auto production, we have lost no time in laying before the Board of Education a far-reaching program of training.

PROGRAM SUBMITTED IN DETROIT

The Detroit board has made as good a record as any in the country in this field. Between July, 1940, and Dec. 31, 1941 the board's vocational instructors have had in training 63,176 men and women. This is really an amazing achievement.

Everyone will admit, however, that since Pearl Harbor this program must be increased and intensified. While union auto workers know their stuff, much of the war work is new and requires different skills and working habits.

There is no better time than now, with layoffs up into six figures, to provide the training on a mass basis, utilizing the enforced idle time to get ready for the new jobs.

4-POINT PLAN NEEDED

As UAW Defense Employment Coordinator I have written the Detroit Board of Education suggesting the following 4-point program for immediate consideration:

1-That defense training, beginning Feb. 15, be given the right of way in the Detroit high schools and that regular high school classes be suspended or shifted if there is any conflict.

2--That all training facilities be put on a basis of 24-hour operation, seven days a week.

3--That training teachers be assigned additional hours per week, with overtime compensation, to meet the vastly increased training load.

4-That the board arrange for the use of closed auto plants to increase the training facilities under this expanded program.

UNION SPECIALISTS WILL HELP

Because the school board may be handicapped by the sudden rush of auto workers to training classes, the UAW has offered to put its own defense-training specialists at the service of the board because of the vital importance of training to all-out war production.

Pres. Roosevelt's proposal to spend $300,000,000 to bring unemployment compensation up to 60% of the regular weekly wage (with a $24 weekly maximum) fits in well with the UAW drive for defense training during the layoffs.

The federal money will not be paid to auto workers unless they take a training course during the period of unemployment. This makes it all the more urgent for the union to demand adequate facilities in all the auto centers.

I shall be glad to hear from the local unions on the progress of this pressure campaign.